The Preliminary Round of the women’s LEN Euro League was completed today.

The Russians and the Greeks made no mistake. Both Russian clubs that played in the Preliminaries – Kinef Kirishi and Dynamo Uralochka -finished the tournaments with perfect records (3-0). Both Greek clubs also went through (Olympiacos and Vouliagmeni).

Even four Spanish teams played in the Preliminary Round, but only European champion Sabadell managed to qualify for the quarterfinals, as the group winner on home soil.

Italy and Hungary had three teams each in this phase. Still, just Dunajvaros (Hungary) and LEN Trophy and Super Cup winner Orizzonte (Italy) advanced to the next round.

Besides the Russians, the Greeks, the Hungarians, and the Italians, UZSC Utrecht (Netherlands) will play in the quarterfinals.

The quarterfinalists: Olympiacos (Greece), Dunaujvaros (Hungary), Sabadell (Spain), UZSC Utrecht (Netherlands), Kinef (Russia), Vouliagmeni (Greece), Dynamo Uralochka (Russia), Orizzonte (Italy).

In the third round, the teams will face off in the four duels on a home and away basis. The four winning teams shall qualify for the LEN Euro League Final Four. The four losing teams will play at the LEN Trophy Final Four.

Euro League 2019/20, Preliminary Round, Day 3

Group E (Athens)

Mediterrani – Dunaujvaros 8:10 (2:2, 2:2, 2:1, 2:5)

CE Mediterrani: Tarrago 4, Espar 2, Ungrina 1, Lizotte 1.
Dunajvaros: Garda 6, Gurisatti 2, Valvyi 1, Huszti 1.

Olympiacos – Mataro 14:9 (3:2, 3:2, 2:2, 6:3)

Olympiacos Piraeus: Avramidou 4, Christmas 3, Tsoukala 2, Eleftheriadou 2, E. Plevritou 1, M. Plevritou 1, Benekou 1.
CN Mataro: Cambray 3, Espar 3, Vicente 1, Lloret 1, Games 1.

Before the last round, all four teams have chances to qualify for the next round.

Dunajvaros was the first one that booked the ticket for the quarterfinals. The Hungarians beat Mediterrani in the opening match of the day 10:8. Three minutes before the end, the score was 8:8. In the remaining time, Dunaujvaros netted two goals for a 10:8 win. A significant contribution to the Hungarians’ victory had captain Krisztina Garda, with 6 goals. Roser Tarrago, the MVP of the World Championships in Gwangju, netted 4 goals for Mediterrani.

Host Olympiacos defeated Mataro 14:9 and confirmed the 1st position.

1 Olympiacos (GRE) 3 – 9
2 Dunaujvaros (HUN) 3 – 6
3 Mataro (ESP) 3 – 3
4 Mediterrani (ESP) 3 – 0

Group F (Sabadell)

SIS Roma – UZSC Utrecht 11:10 (2:2, 3:2, 5:3, 1:3)

SIS Roma: Galardi 3, Chiappini 2, Picozzi 2, Fournier 2, Motta 1, Di Claudio 1.
UZSC Utrecht: Van der Sloot 6, Genee 1, Van der Weijden 1, Drewes 1, Bas 1.

Sabadell – UVSE 15:10 (2:2, 5:2, 2:4, 6:2)

Astralpool Sabadell: Forca 4, Tankeeva 3, Garcia 3, Arino 1, Perez 1, Eggens 1, Barzon 1, Ortiz 1.
UVSE Budapest: Keszthelyi 3, Rybanska 3, Antal 2, Kisteleki 1, Parkes 1

After a disappointing start and a loss to UZSC on Day 1 (7:11), European champion Sabadell managed to climb to the 1st place in the group on home soil. Along with the hosts, UZSC Utrecht advanced to the quarterfinals from this very balanced group.

UZSC suffered a narrow defeat to SIS Roma (10:11). The minimal loss was enough for the Dutch to secure the quarterfinal berth, regardless of the outcome of the second today’s match, because of the goal-difference.

The last game Sabadell-UVSE decided which team will join UZSC in the next round.

Sabadell led throughout the match, but UVSE didn’t let the hosts built a big advantage. Sabadell secured a win in the last four minutes. UVSE trailed by a goal (10:11) in the 28th minute. In the remaining time, Sabadell scored four unanswered goals for a 15:10 win and the top spot in the group.

1 Sabadell (ESP) 3 – 6
2 UZSC Utrecht (NED) 3 – 4 (+3)
3 UVSE Budapest (HUN) 3 – 4 (-4)
4 SIS Roma (ITA) 3 – 3

Group G (Kirishi)

Vouliagmeni – Tetteroo 13:8 (2:3, 4:1, 3:2, 4:2)

NC Vouliagmeni: Kaiafa 2, Elliniadi 2, Xenaki 2, Kotsia 2, Kontoni 2, Protopapas 1, Giannopoulou 1, Moustakaria 1.
ZVL Tetteroo: Voorvelt 2, Keijzer 2, Van Rijn 2, Van Belkum 1, Lindhout 1.

Kinef – Plebiscito 14:11 (5:2, 3:3, 4:4, 2:2)

Kinef-Surgutneftegas: Markoch 3, Ryzhkova 3, Simanovich 2, Glyzina 2, Ivanova 2, Zubkova 1, Prokofyeva 1.
Plebiscito Padova: Queirolo 4, Centanni 3, Ranalli 2, Gottardo 1, Casson 1.

There were no surprises on Day 3. Vouliagmeni defeated Tettero 13:8, while KINEF was better than Plebiscito. KINEF and Vouliagmeni qualified for the quarterfinals.

1 Kinef (RUS) 3 – 9
2 Vouliagmeni (GRE) 3 – 6
3 Plebiscito (ITA) 3 – 3
4 ZVL Tetteroo (NED) 3 – 0

Group H (Catania)

Dynamo Uralochka – Sant Andreu 16:9 (4:3, 2:3, 4:2, 6:1)

Dynamo Uralochka: Karimova 5, Bersneva 4, Golubeva 2, Zelentsova 2, Galimzianova 2, Lapteva 1.
Sant Andreu: Aznar 3, Mora 2, Farre 1, Navarro 1, Palacio 1, Olive 1.

Orizzonte – BVSC 13:7 (3:4, 4:1, 3:1, 3:1)

Ekipe Orizzonte: Garibotti 3, Bekhazi 3, Viacava 2, Aiello 2, Palmieri1, Emmolo 1, McKelvey 1.
BVSC – Zuglo: T. Farkas 3, Leimeter 2, Takacs 1, Mihaly 1.

Dynamo Uralochka secured the first place yesterday. The encounter between Orizzonte and BVSC was the only important match of Day 3, as these two sides battled for the 2nd place.

The first quarter belonged to BVSC, but after that Orizzonte dominated and recorded a nice 13:7 win.

1 Dynamo Uralochka (RUS) 3 – 9
2 Orizzonte (ITA) 3 – 6
3 BVSC Zuglo (HUN) 3 – 3
4 Sant Andreu (ESP) 3 – 0